Philadelphia Mixtapes

DJ mixes and mixtapes from one of the most creatively potent cities in the American underground dance music scene, digitized and restored from original cassette tape and CD recordings.

Philadelphia may not always get mentioned in the same breath as Chicago or New York, but its contribution to American electronic music is undeniable. Josh Wink helped set up Philadelphia's first warehouse parties in the late 1980s, and by 1990 he and King Britt had already collaborated as E-Culture on the underground hit "Tribal Confusion", released on the influential Strictly Rhythm imprint. The two went on to found Ovum Recordings together in 1994, a label that became one of the most respected independent house music imprints in the world. King Britt meanwhile built his own legacy as one of the city's electronic dance music pioneers, finding success through his Sylk 130 project and developing a style that bridged house and techno with jazz, funk, and soul. Running alongside all of this was the techno side of the city's underground, anchored by Nigel Richards, founder of 611 Records, the iconic Philadelphia record store and label that became a genuine institution for dance music DJs, and a staple of the US and international techno scenes since the early 1990s with over 50 vinyl releases and a reputation as one of the hardest working DJs in the country.

These tapes document a scene that punched well above its weight and produced some of the most forward-thinking electronic music to come out of the American East Coast. Restored from analog sources and archived here for the record.